Mohammad Shafia, Tooba Mohammad Yahya and Hamed Mohammed Shafia (their son) are charged in the deaths of four female family members in what the media is calling an "honour killing".

Following a 10 week trial over the last four months, the jurors now have the case of the Shafia family members charged in the planned execution of their female relatives.

Judge Robert Maranger instructed the jury for four and a half hours before releasing the jury to deliberate in the horrific case that has called for outrage against the concept of "honour killings". During the instruction, he gave the jurors only three possible verdicts for each Mohammad Shafia, Tooba Mohammad Yahya and Hamed Mohammed Shafia; guilty as charged of first-degree murder, guilty of second-degree murder, or not guilty.

The three charged, parents and their oldest son are jointly charged as a result of the discovery of their drowning deaths of their family members on June 30, 2009. 

The bodies of three teenage sisters and a 52 year old woman who was their father's first wife in a polygamous marriage and step mother to the girls. Zainab, Sahar and Geeti, along with their stepmother were found floating in their submerged car in the waters of the Kingston Mills locks.

Prosecution charges that the deaths were a planned execution because their behaviour had brought shame to the family according to their native Afghanistan. Defence lawyers have presented the case as a tragic car accident resulting in their deaths.

The jurors are expected to remain sequestered for the weekend.